As is typical, you can join a guild from the off to improve your skills and exploit the perks of such an allegiance. Four of them are available: Mages, Fighter, Thieves and The Dark Brotherhood.

Unlike Morrowind, however, the interests and quests of these factions do not overlap, meaning that it's now possible to rise through the ranks of all four independently.

The first two are a force for good, while thieves are less morally stringent, but still honourable.

The Dark Brotherhood, however, only offers invitations to those people who have killed an innocent; once you've committed such a murder, you'll be invited to a Brotherhood domicile, a place patrolled by undead guards and draped with paintings of the Nightmother, the matriarch who slays all of her children in the night.

Some questions that beg to be asked: Why Mages & Fighters are "a force for good"? What's good about a mercenary organization? If they are good, how can you become the leader of both good and evil factions? What's the logical explanation? They are teh stupid?

If someone is, say, carrying a diamond that you need, but refuses to hand it over, you can avoid confrontation by stealing all the food from their home, and then offering to buy it once hunger kicks in.

This example has been mentioned often, but if you think about, assuming you know how, where is the logic? Wouldn't it make more sense for the diamond guy to go out and look for some herbs and mushrooms, and sell them to shopkeepers than to sell "the precious" right away?

Bethesda: dumbing games down since we've discovered the console market!